Custom, LEGO®-compatible accessories are becoming big business these days. BrickArms and BrickForge are both producing dozens of high quality accessories to equip your minifig armies with weapons, armor, and other items that LEGO® doesn’t typically produce (although its broadening its horizons as well). While these two giants dominate the industry, there is still plenty of room for others to come in a fill in some niches, which is exactly what BrickWarriors is doing. Where BrickArms primarily trades in modern military wares, and BrickForge focuses on fantasy, BrickWarriors appears to be going after the western and sci-fi genres, although they have some pretty fantastic items in other areas as well.
To kick off the launch of their new store, I’m going to review their current product line in a series of five reviews, each centering on a different genre (Ancient, Western, Mafia, Modern, and Sci-Fi, respectively). The first review will focus on their ancient/fantasy items:
Let’s start with the most unusual item in the group: the minotaur head. Unlike LEGO®’s rumored collectible minifig, this item is only a headpiece, which allows for full range of motion. The mold is well done, and instantly recognizable. The horns and eyes are even done in different colors, which really helps sell the piece. I can see this item getting a lot of use in fantasy-themed creations. Creative builders might even find a way to use it as decor, perhaps as a stuffed bull’s head on the wall of a hunter’s den. One thing to note about this item is that the neck hole is quite tight, at least on the sample I received. It took a little wiggling to get a good fit on the figure’s shoulders.
For armor we have an assassin’s mark and chest armor. The mask is a really interesting design, with a grotesque face on the front, and a topknot in the back. It definitely give characters a dangerous, exotic look (it conjures up images of Middle Eastern or Asian hired guns). The armor, which could be paired with the mask or worn separately, has a spiky, evil-looking design that I very much enjoyed.
On the weapons front we’ve got the giant minotaur ax, a deadly looking scimitar, and a versatile dagger. The minotaur ax is absolutely huge, easily allowing dual-handed use. It’s got a lot of nice detail work on it, which would make it equally great for display in a medieval castle or in a minifig’s capable hands. The scimitar has a fantastic Middle Eastern vibe to it. The curve is graceful and the cross-guard and pommel look fantastic. The dagger is easily my favorite weapon in this group, simply because of its wide range of uses. While it’s called an assassin’s dagger, it wouldn’t look out of place in any creation, from fantasy to modern to sci-fi.
On a more general note, the quality and durability of parts seems to be on par with BrickArms and BrickForge. The molds are well made and have the usual manufacturing artifacts (I featured these on the dagger and scimitar above). Most of the parts have a good amount of detail without getting too crazy, although the sci-fi weapons are appropriately complex-looking. They also fit well in the minifigs hands without stretching.
Check back next week where I’ll review BrickWarriors’ Wild West items (my favorite of the bunch). In the meantime, check out their BrickLink store and website (still a work in progress).
These are really cool items here. Where’s the discussion, people?
Uh good review?
Damn straight!
It should not come to a surprise that I love all the Mafia Weapons!
I’m really digging the tommy gun. The official one was always too under-designed to me.
Pure quality. Very happy with the two orders I have made so far.
Fantastic. Which items have you ordered?
I missed this.
Cool stuff. Hopefully they end up making some custom zed heads.
Ooh, a custom molded zombie head. There’s a lot of potential there.
I love it. I shall be looking up the site shortly here.
I wants the MINOTAUR! <3 It's just so cute! I could use it for MANY things in my webcomic for sure!
It would definitely be a good fit in your comic.
I’m generally not a fan of non-LEGO items, or anything not officially sanctioned by TLG, which is basically everything that’s not made by TLG themselves.
Although, I must admit they did come out with the ray-gun that appeared on some customizer’s site in a different color! That was fantastic seeing two very similar items, one coming from a customizer, the other coming from TLG.
Customization is a very touchy subject, I don’t mind that customized items will appear in webcomics if the author feels they have to use them, but for myself I am going to have to do without them – not because I don’t want them – it’s more to do with the fact that I’ve got way too much LEGO parts as is already and customized parts would only get lost in this collection! 😀
I’ve never been a purist. I like what the customizers can bring to the game. With the comic, I like a nice variety in weapons, so it’s kind of a must have. Sure, I could stick to official stuff, but I think it would get boring fast. Plus, I love how characters develop a signature weapon. It’s a part of the character.
Some of the customized stuff is simply amazing and I have my fair share of weapons and a few heads.
But for the most part the custom vehicles like the WW2 items are pretty bad. The have large molded plates with a few lego sized pegs. So it’s more like a cheap plastic toy that has some minor assembly but is charged a hefty premium since it is to lego scale. Honestly what’s the point of that.
I’ll always try to get what I can that’s Lego first but if they don’t make it or some collectors on a site charge an obscene premium I’ll go for custom.
I’ve not seen these WWII vehicles of which you speak. There are some brick build tanks and jeeps out there that are amazing, however.
Behold
http://www.brickmania.com/kits/index.php
http://www.brickmania.com/kits/kits-detail.php?intResourceID=1
There is a lot more out there but these are the best quality IMO.
I am not knocking Brickmania…if there is a demand and people are willing to pay that premium good for them. But in my opinion for that tag I would want a lot more pieces and less modified molds.
Awesome I could use that assassin’s mask!
I wish I had a use for it in the comic, because it’s super awesome.
The minotaur head I think looks the best. I would certainly want to get it.
The minotaur head is great. I can’t wait to see how it stacks up against the official one.
To be honest, this guy has had a running start on the third-party production line. I’ve no doubt that I’ll be buying some of his equipment in the future, and I can see him rising up to the level set by Brick Forge and Brickarms. Cool stuff.
Yup. he has a few things I want…especially that battle ax
….if he adds true pics to his images instead of cad images his sales will go up even further. I know a lot of people like me won’t buy anything unless they see exactly what it looks like.